Presented February 20, 2022 by Elder Jim Guida
Based on Luke 6:27-36
Love. Love God. Love your friends. And love your enemies.
I have thoroughly searched the Bible in regard to this statement, and nowhere does it say, “...except for.” Except for … that stupid driver. Except for … your dopey brother-in-law. And especially not “except for those kids.” We are told to love. Love that jerk who cut you off. Love your brother-in-law, despite his misanthropic political ideas. And love those kids. Especially love those kids.
This could be the simplest sermon possible to preach. A smart person would simply read the passage and then go to the anthem.
That’s what a smart person would do.
But I’ll continue.
It’s easy to sit here in church, among our loving church family, to say “love your enemy,” nod solemnly, and relax. We can do that. Until it happens to us. And our very human reaction is anger. Frustration. Revenge!
Fortunately, we are better than human. Because we have a better-than-human teacher in Jesus the Christ. Who teaches us to overcome our human response and utilize our super-human—our Christian—response. Which is … to love.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, “Hate is too great a burden to bear. Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
We are blessed with lessons of love through history, even from those who have been jailed, spat upon, and beaten.
We just need to hear them.
The opening statement in today’s Bible verse is telling—never more so than in 2022. Jesus says, “But I say to that listen…” “To you that listen.” How many of us are distracted a thousand times every day, with electronics, random thoughts, noise, whatever? I, of course, include myself when I ask, “Are we centering ourselves on a Christ-filled life or is Christ simply part of our life?” An important part, to be sure, but up there with dinner plans, where am I going after church, and I sure hate Zoom meetings.
Being a Christian—in accordance with the Gospels and New Testament writing, and not someone’s political interpretation of the Bible—is an activity we must practice as sure as we breathe God’s good air. No one is likely ever going to slap you—but they will double-cross you, cut you off in traffic, or make insulting remarks. As practicing Christians—that is, practicing the word of Christ every day—we will know how to respond. We may not give them our shirt with our coat, but we can pull back on the road and give them the space they feel they need. We may lovingly try to correct them—with no hint of superiority. And we just “let it go.”
“Love is the force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme, undying principle of life.” We have all learned in life the message that every positive religion that ever existed extolled—to “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Others Do Unto You.” Take a breath. Step back. Make good immediate decisions. And the only way to do that is to be ready to do that—living the life God wants us to live—in everything we say and everything we do.
Remembering the Greatest Commandment—to Love God—“is the height of life,” says the Rev. King. “And when you do this, you live a complete life.”
But why should we love? We are good people. We pay our taxes, don’t cheat others, and hardly ever think ill of people. Isn’t that enough? Why should I love supernaturally?
Because we believe in the greatest lover of all time: he who was sent to earth from our heavenly Father to share the most important message of all time. We must love because Jesus loves us.
And THAT—above all else—is the word of God.
